The Write or Die Chick: 50 Good Books Every Black Woman Should Read

I was born May 21—last day of Taurus, first day of Gemini and just over a week away from the unofficial start of summer—so naturally, I blossom in warm weather. I’m out and about in sundresses and stilettos, I’m socializing at farmers’ markets, I’m accepting Evites and going to meet-ups. But come October, when the wind starts getting a little bite on it and November, when it is officially too cold to do something as simple as getting the mail without tugging on a coat and hat, I transition into hibernation mode.

I love the change of seasons on the east coast, but that chilly air is the perfect impetus to stay in the house, make sweatpants and fuzzy socks my uniform and get some serious reading done. Here, in no particular order—except for the first one, which is my absolute, all-time favorite—are 50 books that challenge us to think, feel, reflect, understand, stretch ourselves, believe, get mad, find peace, seek resolution.

It is by no means a comprehensive list. I don’t even think we could create one because somewhere, someone is writing a great book right at this very moment that will ultimately deserve a space on many of our must-read rolls. But I hope it at least serves as a jump-off point for some thoughtful, purposeful literary consumption until the springtime thaw (which is March 20, in case you’re counting days).

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston 2. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin3. Sister Citizen by Melissa Harris-Perry4. The Miseducation of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson5. Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson by George Jackson6. Cane by Jean Toomer7. The Prisoner's Wife by asha bandele8. Krik? Krak? by Edwidge Danticat9. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe10. The Blacker the Berry by Wallace Thurman11. Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman12. Black Bourgeoise by E. Franklin Frazier13. Jubilee by Margaret Walker14. Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed15. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison16. Kindred by Octavia Butler17. One Day My Soul Just Opened Up by Iyanla Vanzant18. In Search of Satisfaction by J. California Cooper19. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison20. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry21. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines22. Black Betty by Walter Mosley23. Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks24. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou25. for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is not enuf by Ntozake Shange26. Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman by Michele Wallace27. The Color Purple by Alice Walker28. The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. DuBois29. The Street by Ann Petry30. The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor31. Praisesong for the Widow by Paule Marshall32. This Bridge Called My Back by Cherríe L. Moraga33. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde34. Waiting to Exhale by Terri McMillan35. Native Son by Richard Wright36. Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine by Bebe Moore Campbell37. Kehinde by Buchi Emecheta38. We a BaddDDD People by Sonia Sanchez39. The Ways of White Folks by Langston Hughes40. Fences by August Wilson41. The Debt by Randall Robinson42. Conversations With God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African-Americans by James Melvin Washington43. The Little Black Book of Success by Elaine Meryl Brown, Rhonda Joy McLean and Marsha Haygood44. Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks 45. Why I Love Black Women by Michael Eric Dyson46. The Wedding by Dorothy West47. When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost by Joan Morgan48. Tumbling by Diane McKinney-Whetstone49. What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage50. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama